Special "Boston Edition" Marathon Dynamics E-Newsletter
- In this Issue:

SALUTATIONS, CONGRATULATIONS &
CALCULATIONS

OUR TOP 26 PERFORMERS
ARE...

TELL US YOUR BOSTON STORIES, SHOW US
YOUR
BOSTON PICS

FINAL MDI RACEPACE RUN THIS
SUNDAY...WE NEED YOUR HELP BOSTONERS!

A heartfelt and wobbly-legged
CONGRATULATIONS to all those who came, who saw
(and
despite what they saw, still decided to run!) and conquered the
11th
running of the Boston Marathon. Whoo-hoo! We did
it!
I laughed (or
was that
just a grimace!), I cried (or was that just rain coursing down my
cheeks!), at
times I ran like hell (up to Heartbreak), and at times I felt like hell
(Heartbreak to Boylston), but in the end, I got to the end--and
feel triumphant, vindicated, and ebullient for having made the
effort. What about you?

Though we were
spared the
"Storm of the Century" conditions the doomsday weather-mongers
were warning us of right up until (and including) the
morning of the
race, it sure was far from ideal conditions in which to do
battle on
the notoriously tough and challenging Boston course, wasn't
it? What an experience! Boston would have been
an momentous enough occasion on its own, but accompanied as it was
by the
tail-end of a rip-snortin' "Nor-Easter" (heavy rains, chilly temps,
and an
at times wicked 15-30mph headwind straight at us)...well, that only
made it
all the more memorable.

As I suppose
any
self-respecting running coach is wont to do, since getting back earlier
this
week, I've been trying to objectively determine just how
much of
an effect, on average, the nasty conditions had on us, to help us all
put our
efforts into proper perspective. Since by now you've all probably
heard/read how this was the slowest Boston (by winner's finishing time)
in 30
years, how more than 3000 registrants turned into "no shows" by starting
time,
and all the "overblown" (how appropriate) rhetoric being
bandied about
re: "worst weather" in the races history, etc, etc. Let's be
clear--it
wasn't THAT bad...in fact, there have been a number of other Bostons,
some
recent ('04 of course springs to mind) that were much
worse.

Having said
that, after
reviewing/comparing/calculating the average of the top 10 mens and
womens finishing times, this year vs. last year, it turns out
that up
at the front at least, this year was about 4% harder/slower
than last
year--and that's if we hold ourselves accountable to the same level
of
motivation that the top marathoners in the world, who are racing for
hundreds of
thousands of dollars--certainly a rigorous, if not unfairly high,
standard
against which to measure ourselves, yes? Nevertheless, if we do,
that
means that in order to gauge what your actual finishing time was "worth"
once
adjusted to more ideal conditions, you can apply the following "sliding
scale"
to your final time on Monday:

3hrs: deduct
7min =3D
2:53:00

3:15: deduct
7:30 =3D
3:07:30

3:30: deduct
8min =3D
3:22:00

3:45: deduct
8:30 =3D
3:36:30

4hrs: deduct
9min =3D
3:51:00

4:30: deduct
10+min =3D 4:20
or less

There
now...feel
better? (come on...at least a little, right?!). Seriously
though,
until you've adjusted your time by AT LEAST this amount, you can't begin
to get
a handle on how well you did, or didn't, do!

Our
Top 26
Performers!

Now we'd like to take a moment to recognize
the
accomplishments of the 26 Marathon Dynamics runners who ran the
best Boston
marathon they possibly could have. This will henceforth be an
annual
tradition, so if you didn't make it onto the list this time, hey, that's
just
fuel on the fire for next year, right? Please keep in mind that
even after
a few unexpected late in the game "pull outs" (due primarily
to injury and personal circumstance), we still had almost
60
Marathon Dynamics runners in this year's Boston (which would make
us the
8th largest foreign country, after Canada, out of almost 90 nations
represented
this year!), so competition was very fierce. Furthermore, we want
to
remind everyone that we are NOT recognizing (purely) finishing
time/speed here
(believe me, there are a number of MDI runners who ran low 3hr
times who
aren't on this list!), but attempting to recognize those who
performed
best, and ran as smartly and strongly as possible, given their potential
going
into race day. In no particular order (save alphabetical),
they
are:

Chuck McCoy - 5:15 (only able
to run 1-2
times per week for whole season...and over 60 yrs old!)

Margaret Menzel - 3:44

Charley Moses - 3:17

Andrew Ponsen - 3:28

Melissa Seguin - 3:28

Steve Sevsek - 3:13

Peter Stephenson - 3:25

Gail Vella - 3:47

Rob Welsh - 3:29

Bridget Wiley -
3:51

Well done to you all...on this list or
not!

Boston
Stories &
Boston Pics!

I've only been back 3 days here, and already
I've heard
so many great stories and seen so many great pictures (thanks to
the
digital age) that our MDI runners have shared with me, so
please, take
some time to write out your Bawston thoughts/tales while they're still
fresh in
your mind and if you're OK to pass 'em on, please do, we'd love to
hear
'em/see 'em! We're hard at work redeveloping our website
currently
(already have the "Discussion Groups" set up...just need to get
techno-dunderhead Coach Kev up to speed on how to use/administer them!),
so you never know where your stories/pics may end
up!

To get the ball rolling..here's an excerpt of
one of
mine:

...yes,
the conditions
were less than ideal, and yes they seem to have hit everyone pretty
hard (some more than others). I myself had a rough
time with the
last 6+ miles (sound familiar?). Even at the top of heartbreak
hill w/just
6 miles to go, was still on pace for a 2:45 final time.
However,
I'd just started my first of at least 10-12 walk breaks to try and
deal
with severe quad cramping/strains--a condition I'd like to be the first
to
officially coin "Quad-atropy-knee-ahhh!" (great Who album, think I'll
Ipod it
next time!)--which turned my
previous 6:15/6:16 miles into 7's, then into 8's, and
eventually
by mile 24, into 9+'s...ugh! At times, I really wanted to
pull out
due to the excruciating pain and seriously considered doing so, but
decided
that I had to forget about the time, turn it into a survival
challenge, and
"find a way to win"...to valiantly take up the struggle and see this
thing
through. I owed it to myself, the reputation and history of the
event, my
family (parents and brother stationed halfway up heartbreak..thank you!)
and
friends, my fellow running brethren and clients, and indeed to the
spectators
along the Boston course--I just couldn't have finished without
them--terrific
supporters! Upon reflection (and after many beers and much time
soaking in
the hot tub back at my hotel!), I was (and still am) very happy to have given it my best, and
satisfied
with the results for my first crack at Boston. I've learned a
lot
(technically) about the Boston course (man, is it ever the toughest
course to do
well on), and will be back, with a vengeance, sometime soon to settle up
my
account (and perhaps my hotel bill too...just
kidding!)

For your
amusement...as I
was coming to the finish--just as I was about to pass under
the famous big
blue and gold scaffold/banner, my left hamstring grabbed into a
ball and
left me convulsively lurching to the line, face contorted into a
scowl Ed
Grimley would be proud of. Here's a small thumbnail print of how
my
anti-climactic finish line photo will look (see below)...can't wait to
see that
blown up! Even better? The "My DVD" footage of that same
episode---oh
boy, ought to be a high traffic You Tube item, eh?

Due to some
unexpected
staffing issues, we are in dire need of some help with our final
racepace run
at High Park this Sunday, April 22nd. We're two
people short
(hopefully with car?) to staff the 7 mile and 9 mile water stations for
this
last long Racepace Run of the season, for all the rest of our crew still
toiling
away toward their various half and full marathons.

Given that, at
least for the
time being, I'm assuming you guys aren't running up a storm any time
soon, if
you could help me and the rest of your MDI running pals out by
pitching in
with us for maybe 3 hrs on Sunday morning, we would all be eternally
grateful. Aside from my undying gratitude and some admiring
glances
from other hoping-to-get-to-Boston MDI runners, we'll also throw in a
$50 credit
on your next season with MDI, so it's a win/win/win for
everyone.

What do you
say...can you
"pay it forward" this weekend? First two respondents get the gig!
Let me
know...looking for you to be there at the Grenadier Restaurant, High
Park, by
8:15am...depending on the runner flow and your spot on the course, we
could have
you headed home by around 11am!

Hope you're able to walk
better than I am
today...good luck with the recovery, congrats on your 2007 Boston race
experience, and hope to see you/speak with you/email with you all again
soon!